Abstract
The genus Meira currently contains three recently described species of mite-associated basidiomycete yeasts from Israel and Japan and is placed in the Exobasidiomycetes (Ustilaginomycotina) Incertae sedis. A previously undescribed species of Meira was isolated from the phylloplane of a magnolia leaf in Louisiana, USA. Herein, we describe Meira miltonrushii sp. nov. and include phylogenetic analyses from three rDNA loci to resolve the placement of Meira. This study provides evidence that Meira belongs to the family Brachybasidiaceae in the Exobasidiales and supports the placement of another mite-associated yeast genus, Acaromyces, within Cryptobasidiaceae (Exobasidiales). We also examine sequences produced by numerous environmental studies that suggest Meira species can be found as endophytes of many plant species. To our knowledge, this is the first record of a member of the genus Meira in North America.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1097-1106 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, International Journal of General and Molecular Microbiology |
| Volume | 103 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2013 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
Acknowledgments This research was supported by a National Science Foundation Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life grant (NSF DEB 0732968). We would like to thank the LSU Socolofsky Microscopy Center, specifically M. Brown and Y. Xiao, for assistance with brightfield microscopy. We would like to thank L. Urbano, M. Urbano S. Albu, A. Rodriguez, A. McTaggart, G. Heller, M. Toome, R. Kaur, M. Padamsee and especially Dr. M. Blackwell and Dr. M. Broome and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of this manuscript; S. Gross and H. Urbina for assimilation advice; and J. Diaz, B. Kennedy, A. Smith and K. Stephenson for culture maintenance.
Keywords
- Acaropathogenic fungi
- Entomopathogens
- Mites
- Phylloplane yeasts
- Smut fungi